Wyndham executives: Wyndham Hotel Group appointed Barry Goldstein as chief marketing officer and Scott Strickland as chief information officer. Prior to joining Wyndham, Goldstein was chief revenue officer for Dolce Hotels and Resorts and vice president, global sales strategy, technology and operations, at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Strickland joins Wyndham from D+M Group where he led the company’s information technology function as chief information officer.
Chiang Mai hotels: C9 Hotelworks reports that tourism is up in Chiang Mai and the city has a slew of new boutique hotels. The city currently has a total of 33,593 keys in 831 registered and unregistered tourist accommodation establishments. An additional 524 keys are expected to come on stream by 2019, with the majority of pipeline properties concentrated in the Old City catchment area.
MGM: MGM Muthu bought the four-star Clumber Park Hotel and Spa in Nottinghamshire as part of its expansion in the UK, where it now has three hotels.
Trump travel ban: U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies face new challenges in court, as the attorney general of Hawaii alleges that Trump violated the Constitution with his redrawn executive order banning travel from six predominantly Muslim countries. Additionally, the city attorney of San Francisco asked a federal judge to block a seperate executive order, which threatens to withdraw funding for U.S. cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement officials.
Mercure Hull Royal Hotel: The United Kingdom’s Mercure Hull Royal Hotel will be taken over by Britannia Hotels. Contracts are due to be exchanged next week on the 155-room, three-star property.
Warwick Ankara: The 32-room boutique Mona Hotel in Ankara will be rebranded as the Warwick Ankara after entering into a franchise agreement with the French-based hotel collection on January 15th.
Karma Group: Karma Group acquired a new property just outside the town of Agios Nikolaos, on the Greek island of Crete. Karma Minoan will be comprised of a selection of hotel apartments and one and two bedroom suites along with pool, bar, restaurant, library, spa and kids club.